Luigi Baudana - Barolo 'Serralunga d'Alba' 2021

Luigi and Fiorina Baudana are the namesakes of the località Baudana, the hamlet just north of Serralunga d’Alba, and of the historical cru that lays on the western slope of the hill. The beginning of their family history is lost in time and Luigi never precisely knew whether his ancestors gave their name to the place or took their name from it.  It was thanks to Fiorina’s love and encouragement that the two decided to stop selling their family’s grapes to cooperatives and to start producing their own estate wines.

The Baudanas and the Vairas (of G.D. Vajra fame) met in 2008, at a time Luigi and Fiorina were considering retirement.  It was a very secretive first meeting across the Tanaro river on a silent Monday night.  Many more discrete encounters followed throughout the summer while walking vineyards and barrel-tasting together. The sympathy and human bond that was established over those many hours led the Vaira family to suggest they could become the ‘guardians’ of Luigi and Fiorina’s history rather than just taking over their land.  This is why the old cellar is still operating today, to vinify and age the Baudana Barolos. The Baudana name lives on through each bottle. 

As of the 2009 vintage, the Vaira family has been at the helm of Baudana’s mere 4.1 hectares—2.6 of which are Barolo, 1.5 of which are Langhe Bianco.  Through impeccable farming (always organic, with certification as of the 2019 vintage), keen interpretation of vintage, and a gentle, slow, traditional approach in the tiny cellar (open-top fermentations, long cappello sommerso macerations), the Vairas are able to highlight the nuances of the Baudana and Cerretta crus, which despite being adjacent to one another, can offer fascinating differences in the glass. 

Luigi Baudana is a true garagiste production, one of the most limited in the entire Barolo region, and expresses the austere, intense, and charming character of Serralunga d’Alba.

In the history of Barolo, before the prevalence of single-cru bottlings, it was more common to blend fruit from sites of differing exposure, altitude, and soil type in order to obtain a more expressive and balanced wine.  Baudana's Barolo Serralunga combines fruit from the younger vines (planted 1990) of the Cerretta and Baudana crus and, more recently, adds fruit from a small parcel in the cru of Costabella, just next to Baudana. Cerretta (SE exposure) has the typical Serralunga soils called Formazione di Lequio over a substrate of iron-rich clay.  Baudana (SW exposure) combines some Lequio with the Sant'Agata Fossili soils more commonly found in La Morra and Barolo.  Costabella (S-SE exposure) is more purely composed of the Sant'Agata soils.

Depending on the vintage, parts of the three crus will be co-fermented. Fermentation is spontaneous in open-top wood vats, with macerations lasting 20-25 days. Aging is in Slavonian oak botti, followed by more aging in bottle.  Around 8,000 bottles produced.

"The Luigi Baudana 2021 Barolo del Comune di Serralunga d'Alba shows rich fruit delivered as cooked cherry with background tones of cinnamon, red rose and ferrous earth. The tannins are sweet but also firm, and you get plenty of streamlined fruit on the close. The three sites used in the blend are Baudana, Costa Bella and Cerretta.” - 94 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate "A lean, linear style, this red exhibits macerated cherry, raspberry, plum, iron and menthol flavors. Fresh and balanced, with all of the components converging on the finish.” - 94 Points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"A lean, linear style, this red exhibits macerated cherry, raspberry, plum, iron and menthol flavors. Fresh and balanced, with all of the components converging on the finish.” - 93 Points, Wine Spectator

"The 2021 Barolo del Comune di Serralunga d'Alba is superb. Creamy and resonant in the glass, with gorgeous mid-palate depth, the 2021 is a terrific wine in its peer group. Rose petal, incense, blood orange, dried herbs and cedar confer notable complexity. This is a gorgeous wine in every way. The Baudana Serralunga Barolo is one of so many wines in Piedmont that overachieves. Vineyard sources are young vines in Baudana and Ceretta, plus Costabella.” - 92 Points, Vinous

Producer: Luigi Baudana

Country: Italy

Region: Piedmont

Varietal: Nebbiolo

Appellation: Barolo

Vintage: 2021

Size: 750ml